The show is part of the The Voice franchise and is structured as three phases: blind auditions, battle rounds and live performance shows.[1] The winner receives a recording contract with Universal Music.[2]

Four judges/coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each judge has the length of the auditioner's performance (about one minute) to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team; if two or more judges want the same singer (as happens frequently), the singer has the final choice of coach.

Each team of singers is mentored and developed by its respective coach. In the second stage, called the battle phase, coaches have two of their team members battle against each other directly by singing the same song together, with the coach choosing which team member to advance from each of four individual "battles" into the next knockout phase, the Showdowns.

In this elimination round, the contestants compete on stage on their own, for a place in the live rounds. The surviving four acts from each team again compete against each other, with public votes determining one of four acts from each team that will advance to the final eight, while the coach chooses which of the remaining three acts comprises the other performer remaining on the team.

In the final phase, the remaining contestants (Final 8) compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience and the coaches have equal say 50/50 in deciding who moves on to the final 4 phase. With one team member remaining for each coach, the (final 4) contestants compete against each other in the finale with the outcome decided entirely by public vote.

Filming for the blind auditions stage of the competition began on 19 February 2012 at Fox Studios in Sydney,[8][14] with 121 artists featured in this phase of the selection process.[15] The first day of filming resulted in hundreds of audience members being turned away from the studio due to overbooking of the event by an external booking agent.[14] Filming for the battle rounds started in late March.[16] In response to the immediate ratings success of the blind auditions, the Nine Network renewed the series for a second season on 27 April 2012.[17]

After accepting an offer to join the American Idol judging panel it was announced in September 2012 that Urban would not be returning as a coach for the second season.[18] Following an extensive search process by producers, and constant media speculation[19][20] on who would replace Urban, Ricky Martin was officially announced as the new coach in November 2012.[21] In response to joining the series, Martin paid tribute to Urban saying he was "humbled to be sitting in his chair".[21] Healy stated that Martin would bring "huge experience" and be the "perfect addition" to the coaching panel,[22] with Goodrem, Madden and Seal all publicly expressing excitement at the news via their Twitter accounts.[23]

The success of the first season led to the Nine Network increasing its programming run for the second season, with an extra ten hours of content to be broadcast and the season running for approximately three months instead of two.[21] On 13 January 2015, it was announced that Delta Goodrem would return to the panel, and new judges Jessie J and Benji Madden would join the series, replacing former judges Kylie Minogue and will.i.am[24][25] On 22 February 2015, it was announced that Sonia Kruger would be joining the fourth season as a co-host with McMullen.[26]

Karise Eden was crowned the first winner of The Voice Australia. Darren Percival was runner-up, followed by Rachael Leahcar in third place and Sarah De Bono in fourth place.[27] Season 1 saw 80% of artists enter the music charts, culminating in 9 out of the top 10 in finale week. Eden made history with eight singles in the charts and both a number number-one single and album.[28]

The second season of The Voice Australia crowned Harrison Craig the winner, under Seal's tutelage. Keith Urban did not return as a coach after it was officially announced he would become a judge on American Idol.[29][30] The Nine Network confirmed on 29 November 2012 that Latin pop star Ricky Martin would replace Urban as the new coach.[31] Luke Kennedy placed second under the new coach, with Celia Pavey third and Danny Ross fourth.

On 26 November 2013, it was announced that Seal and Delta Goodrem would not be returning as coaches for the third season. The same day, it was announced that The Voice UK coaches will.i.am and Kylie Minogue would join Joel Madden and Ricky Martin.[32] Taping for the third season began on 14 January 2014, with the Battle rounds commencing in March. Blind auditions began airing on 4 May 2014. Anja Nissen was announced the winner with Jackson Thomas in second place, Johnny Rollins in third, and Frank Lakoudis and ZK in fourth.

In January 2015, it was confirmed that Goodrem would return to her judges chair, and would be joined by new additions Jessie J and Benji Madden.[24][25] On 22 February 2015, Sonia Kruger was announced as the new co-host.[26]

The Nine Network announced plans for a junior version of The Voice which would feature contestants aged between the ages of eight and fourteen in August 2013.[33] On 26 November 2013 it was announced that Delta Goodrem would move from the adult version to The Voice Kids along with Joel Madden who would stay on both versions. Darren McMullen would also host The Voice Kids. On 1 February 2014, it was announced that along with Delta and Joel, Mel B and Benji Madden, brother of Joel, would also be joining the judging panel.[34] The blind auditions commenced airing on 22 June 2014. The children's version had the same format as the original show.

Ten-year-old Alexa Curtis of Team Delta was declared the winner of The Voice Kids, winning a music education scholarship worth $50,000 and a recording contract with Universal Music. Team Madden's Bella Yoseski and Team Mel's Maddison Brooke were runners-up.